Hi Duana,
Almost 10 years after the birth of our first daughter, Lily, my husband and I are expecting a second baby girl. This pregnancy was a very big surprise, since, as the result of a complications from a chronic disease, I was told I couldn't have any more children.
Anyway, she is due soon and we still can't seem to settle upon a name. My husband is Caribbean-Chinese and Filipino and I'm French Canadian/Scottish/Irish so we have lots of ethnicities to pull from. Our daughter will have my long French last name as a middle name and his last name (an already hyphenated Chinese name) as her last name, so we don't want her to be further burdened with too long or complicated a first name. I wouldn't mind something French, Irish or Scottish, as with a Chinese last name it would be nice for her to have something recognizable from my heritage in her name as well.
To complicate things further, I feel like now that almost a decade has passed between our first child and this baby, all the good names have already gotten used by my daughter's friends and classmates and our friends who have all had multiple kids over the years. I fear we may be too late to find any new names that haven't been used to death!
Finally, my daughter says to mention that the new baby's name isn't allowed to be better or "cooler" than her name. Oh boy. Can you help?
____
Okay, I love this. Do you know why I love this? Not just because of a 10-years-later surprise, which, I love it when the universe laughs at us, but because of the idea that there are good names, and that your daughter knows that they are good. So let’s start with your heritage hopes, ones that sound good with your daughter Lily, and go from there.
How about Adair? Lily and Adair? I actually really like this, and I think they’re similar in size and style and still current, and I think Lily will be down with it. I don’t love putting out my best name first, but I feel like I might have hit it right there.
Still, there are other options. Like Leonie. Lily and Leonie is close but different, and I think they kind of work together. Or Cleo? Lily and Cleo really work for me. I’m hoping I’m not hitting the names that are popular in your neighbourhood or your daughter’s classroom. I suspect along those lines that there are already several Fionas in your orbit, but if there aren’t, that’s a name that really fits your description.
Elise? Sage? Delaney? Selah fits absolutely none of your characteristics, but somehow I feel inclined to suggest it. Similarly unrelated but also appealing, how about Ivy?
Anything in the zone? Tell me. Hit me back.
A note to name-nerd letter writers,
I love getting your letters. In order to give them the best chance of being answered in a timely fashion, could I please trouble you to include the due date in the subject line of your email? Also, please send only one email – duplicates are deleted and may result in your email not being answered. Thanks!
